Arsenal: Nobody should be surprised by Granit Xhaka indiscipline

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has already become something of a liability for the club. A development nobody should really be surprised at.

Granit Xhaka picked up his second red card of the season for Arsenal during the club’s nail-biting 2-1 win over Burnley on Sunday. A reckless tackle left Xhaka with a red card heading his way, and his second dismissal in a short space of time has led many to label the Swiss an Arsenal liability.

The midfielder has made just 15 starts in the Premier League since joining the club last summer. Yet Xhaka has already been sent off in two of those 15 starts. Not to mention the midfielder was also sent off for the Switzerland national team in a World Cup qualifier in September.

Xhaka has actually been sent off three times this season when you also count internationals. Three red cards by January is a problem in anyone’s book. So, a liability Xhaka certainly is. At least at this point in his career anyway. But should that really surprise anybody?

Xhaka was an impressive player at Borussia Monchengladbach. A hardworking midfielder with a good range of passing and a rocket of a shot from long range. However, Xhaka was also known to be rather slow and wiling to take unnecessary chances to try and win the ball back.

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Often arriving a second late, or just going for a ball he should have let go, Xhaka’s temperament was already in question back in Germany. During his final three seasons at Borussia-Park, Xhaka accumulated five red cards. Last season alone saw him dismissed three times in the Bundesliga.

In fact, the last time Xhaka went a season without a red card was in the 2012-13 Bundesliga campaign. Which was his first season at the club. Once settled, there was really no looking back. At Arsenal now, it’s not even taken the 24-year-old a season to settle.

Although, Arsenal’s scouting reports on Xhaka surely outlined the downsides as well as the upsides, right? If they did, then nobody at the Emirates Stadium will be too surprised right about now. If they didn’t, then the club needs to re-evaluate the scouting department.

What will be a surprise to the club will be the latest racial scandal to emerge involving their volatile midfielder. Xhaka reportedly racially abused an airline worker at Heathrow airport whilst seeing a friend on to a flight.

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The alleged offense is yet to be proven and is still being investigated by police. But the reports alone only add further question marks around the temperament of Xhaka. It’s becoming a real issue for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger as the season goes on.

But as Xhaka’s history will tell you, one they surely cannot be too surprised at.